Register connection for piston meters



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet l.

L. H. NASH.

REGISTER CONNECTION EUR PISTON METERS.

N. PEYERS. FhuwLnnngrapher, Washington, n.0.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

L. H. NASH.

REGISTER CONNECTION EUR PISTON METERS.

Z l uam .I 2,

N. Penas, PIwm-Lnhugmpner, wasmngm", D. c.

3 H S A N H L REGISTER GGNNEGTION FOR PISTON METERS. No. 353,805.

Patented Deo. ,1886.

WZIzeS/eg N. PETERS. Plmmillwgmphcn wnshmgmn. uC

d- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS HALLOCK NASH, OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL METER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

REGISTER-CONNECTION FOR Pls-ron METERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 353,805, dated December '7, 1886.

Application filed December 29, i883. Serial No. 115,963. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, LEwrs HALLooK NASH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Erooklyn, in the county ol Kings and State of New York, have invented new and useful Im- .provements in Piston Tater-Meters, of which and discharged therefrom; and the objects of my improvements are tok dispense with the mechanism by which the pistons are usually operated, to provide fora `free reci proeation of the pistons by the action of the flowing water, to control the speed and the extent of the stroke of one piston by the action of the other, 2o`

and to effect an accurate measurement of the water without regard to the extent of the Vmovement of either piston.

An important matter of my invention consists in decreasing the motion of the free pistons at the end of the stroke, and thereby prevvent them from striking the cylinder-heads.

In connection with the free pistons a registering device is adapted to measure the extent of their movements, and my invention also consists in certain'details of construction and of combinations, which will be more fully de scribed hereinafter, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanyingv drawings, Figure 1 represents a cross-section of the meter upon the linezz of Fig. 2, which is a vertical longitudinal section on the line w w of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a longitudinal horizontal section on the line fr a: of Fig. 1, showing the meter shell or case with the pistons removed.

larged scale, in its relation to the free operating pistons. 1

As the gures in the drawings are shown,

the meter is supposed to be in a horizontal position.

The case or shell has an inlet-opening, A, connected to abranch passage leading toward the outer lower side of the two cylinders C C2, with which it communicates by the inlet-ports A3 and Ai. These cylinders are placed side by side and have an intervening divided passage communicating with the vouter opposite ends ofthe cylinders by ports d', di, di, and d4, and in such manner that port c', Figs. 1 and 3, of cylinder C leads to port dk of cylinder Cl through passage c', port c2 leads to 'port d2 by passage eZ at the opposite end o the cylinder, similarly port c3 of cylinder O2, Figs. 1 and 5, communicates with port d of cylinder C by passage e3, and port c* with port d' of cylinder C by passage e".

The pistons D D2, which are entirely freei' c., without any-mechanical operating connections-reciprocate by the inliowing water in the cylinders O O2, and are so placed as to operate to admit and discharge the water atk the proper time. These pistons are hollow, and are divided by a'partition, f, at their center, similar to that in the ordinary D-valve. The piston D2 has at its outer side a port, A2, communicating with the port AS in the cylinder,

and at the side facing the intermediate passage a port, b', and two side ports, c c2. The piston D2 has a receiving-chamber, Z, which always has communication through the inlet-ports A2 A3 with the inlet-passage A, and a central out- Y let-chamber, X, Figs. 1, 2, and 5, which is formed by the partitionf, and constantly communicates through the ports B2 B3 with the outletpassage B, Fig. l. The receiving-chamber Z communicates by the valve-portsc a2 with the cylinder-ports csc", Fig. 5, and the outletchamber X has the port b', which communicates with the cylinder-ports c3 c4 in the movement of said piston. The piston D is identical in construction with piston D2, but is reversed in position in its cylinder, as seen in Fig. 1.

Referring to the position of piston D2, as

shown in Figs. 1, 4, `and 5, the water enters through the passage A, andis admitted by the ports A* A to the piston-inlet chamber X,

roo4

nicate with the opposite ends of cylinder C2 in the movement ofthe piston. In the operation of piston D' the water is discharged from the opposite ends of cylinder C2,through the cylinder-ports c' c2, into the chamber Z' of piston D' by its ports b2 b3, from whence it escapes into the outlet-passage B through the ports B and B, which are always in communication with said passage. When the pistons are in the positions shown in Fig. 5,the water enters through port A, Fig. 1, into inletchamber Z of piston D2, and through port a2, cylinder-port c3, to passage e3, port d3, and to the outside end of piston D',which it forces in the direction of the arrow m. The water in front of the piston D' is then forced out of cylinder C' by the port di, passage e4, port c, into outlet chamber X of piston D2, from whenceit passes through ports B'l B3 into and through the outlet-opening B.

The piston Dis precisely the same as piston D2, its position being inverted, and it communicates in a similar manner, by means of the ports and passages, as does piston D2i. e., the water enters, Fig. 1, through port A' of piston D', to the receiving-chamber X', and is admitted by port ai, Fig. 4, of piston D' to passage e?, through port ci", and -to the outside end of piston D?, which forces it in the direc tion of the arrow n. The water in front of the piston D2, Fig. 4, is forced out of cylinder C2, by the port d', passage e', port c', to port b, into the chamber Z' of piston D', through port B',Fig. 1,into the branch passage,and through the outlet-opening B. As the free piston D', Fig. 5, approaches the end of its stroke, it begins to close the port d, thus retarding the escape of the water therefrom, and the speed of said free piston will gradually be decreased,as the port di is closed, until it comes to rest against the cylinder-cover HZ without shock. The free piston D' should not entirely close the port 'd*, but close it suiiiciently to prevent asudden stoppage of said free piston, the amount of such opening being determined by use. It should also be opened sufficiently to allow the water toenter at d*,when the free piston shall have reversed the iiow, so as to facilitate its starting readily on the return-stroke.

As shown in Fig. 4, the free piston D2 is just beginning its return-stroke; thewater, entering at d2, moves the piston in the direction of the arrow n, the port d will be opened wider and wider, and the free piston moves faster untilits greatest speed is gained. When both ports d2 and d' are uncovered, it will begin to close port d', gradually reducing its speed until it is gently brought to rest upon the case-head H'. It will be thus seen that by the operation of the ports d', (Z2, d3, and d* the free pistons start from their rest with a gradually-accelerated motion, and are gradually retarded at the end of the stroke until brought to rest without any shock.

Both cylinders and pistons are constructed exactly alike, and the pistons reciprocate alternately, thereby allowing a continuous and steady ow of water, and according to their size measure the quantity of water admitted and discharged through them.

The operation of the meter is as follows: The water enters the case through the inletopening A, Fig. 1, and passes through the branch passage alternately to each side of the case, and enters through the inlet-ports A* A" into the pistons, chambers Z X', by the ports A' A2, and passes thence, by the piston-ports a' a of piston D2 and a of piston D', into the corresponding cylinderports in the operation of the pistons. The arrows m and a indicate the direction of the motion of the free pistons, while the other arrowsindicate the direction of the current of water. The free pistons being in the position shown in Fig. 5, the water from the chamber Z of the free piston D2 passes through the port c3, passage e, and port d3, behind the free piston D', and forces it in the direction of the arrow m, the water escaping from the other end of the cylinder C' by the port d4 through the passage e, port c4, to port b' of the piston D2 and outlet-opening B3, which it reaches through the branch passage Bi, leading thereto.

Each piston is provided with a rack, l0, placed below the circumference, and into said racks gearwheels 8 8 mesh. The wheels 8 8 are placed loosely on transverse shafts 5 6, which are jonrn'aled in lugs cast on the case in the inlet branch passage. One wheel 8 is placed on the hollow shaft 5, while the other wheel 8 revolves on the ysolid shaft 6, which passesthrough said hollow shaft. The ratchetwheels 9 9 are rmly secured to the shafts 5 and 6. To each gear-wheel 8 8 are attached the double pawls 1 1', which drive the ratchetwheels 9 9, said ratchet-wheels 9 9 being prevented from rotating in the opposite direction by the double spring-pawls 1" o", secured to the case, and as the pistons reciprocate they revolve the shafts 5 and 6 in the direction of the arrows. The pawls r' i" prevent the backward motion of the ratchet-wheels, and in Fig. 10 these pawls are shown as being secured to the case-frame by pivot-pins r2. The hollow shaft 5 is provided with an arm, 5', having a pin, 12, upon which the gear-wheels l and 3 are free to revolve, and said gears are secured to each other, so as to move together. A gearwheel, 4., is secured to the shaft 6, and another wheel, 2, to the short solid shaft 7, and they mesh, respectively, with the wheels 1 and 3.

-The shaft 7 passes through a suitable stuffingbox, 13,which forms a bearing for the shaft,the outer end of which is connected with and drives the registering mechanism.

The operation of the registering apparatus is as follows: Supposing the shaft 5 to bestationary and the shaft 6 to be moved, then the gear 4 will turn, moving the gears 3, to which the gear 1 is attached, from whence the movement will be communicated to gear 2, and to the extended shaft 7, and as the gears l and 2 ICO IIO

are of equal diameter, and the gear 3 is double the size of gear 4, as shown, one revolution of the gear 4; will cause half a revolution of the gear 3 and of the extended shaft 7. Now let 5 the shaft 6 be stationary and the shaft 5 revolve, carrying around with it the gearsl and 3; then one revolution of the shaft willcause half a revolution of the gear 2 and of the extended shaft 7.

1o It will be readily seen that an equal motion of the shafts 6 and 5 will cause an v,equal movement of the extended shaft 7, and it' these two movements take place alternately their movements will each be communicated to the shaft 15 7 and thereby to the indicator of the meter.

While I have described and shown free pistons having valve ports and passages adapted to cooperate with each other and with cylinder ports, so that the valve-ports of one piston will control the admission and discharge of water into and from the other piston, yet the same operation may be effected by free pistons having adi'erent arrangement of ports and passages.

I claim- 1. In a water-meter, the combination of the two free actuated pistons with an independent shaft and connecting-gearing for each piston and motion transmitting gearing con- 30 nesting each independent shaft with a registering connecting-shalt, whereby the motion. of the two shafts is communicated to the registering mechanism, substantially as herein-i n set forth. w

2. The combination, in awater-meter, of two 35 free Water-actuated pistons, each having a cograok, 10, with an independent shaft, 5 and 6, for each piston, each shaft having a gear, 8, meshing with said piston-racks, a ratchetwheel, 9, secured to each shaft, fixed pawls 1" for each ratchet-wheel, and motion-transmitting gearing adapted to transmit the motion of the shafts to the registering mechanism, substantially as described.

3. The combination, in awater-meter, of free actuated pistons, each having independent register-connecting mechanism, with an independent register-connecting shaft, and the gearing 1, 2, 3, and 4, whereby the registering mechanism is driven bythe motion of the pis- 5o tons,'substantially as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my handin the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LEWIS HALLooKA NAsH.

Witnesses: f

A. E. H. JoHNsoN, J. W. HAMILTON JoHNsoN. 

